Over the last couple of years, our expectations from smartphones have increased dramatically. No matter how much one is planning to spend, the device has to be perfect in every way. Even the slightest hiccup in design or software can make or break a device. And the best part is — for every budget — a device or two is coming in to fulfil that exact need.

A LITTLE MI HISTORY

You may know that there are two distinct smartphones ‘lines’ within the Xiaomi ecosystem: the cheaper Redmi and the flagship Mi. The Mi 5 is the company’s latest (and greatest) and it’s been in development for over two years according to sources within the company. First, a little history. The Mi 3 was the first device that the company launched in India (July 2014) and it was a runaway success — a compelling combination of style, performance and value. They’ve steadily built on that ethos and the new Mi 5 now embodies everything that a premium smartphone should be.

MORE ABOUT THE PHONE

It’s got a great screen, beautiful design, spectacular performance, super-fast fingerprint scanner, excellent camera with 4-axis optical image stabilisation and a large battery. Up front, the screen occupies most of the area. The 5.15-inch screen (we’ll talk about why that particular size in a moment) has minimal bezels and while resolution is 1080p and not 2k like some other Android flagships, it has a pixel density of 428ppi. The screen is pin-sharp, offers high contrast, accurate colour, superb viewing angles and high brightness levels. The extra brightness is thanks to extra backlight LEDs in the display — more than usual for this display size — necessitating the slight increase in size from 5 to 5.15-inch.

The back is curved glass and the curves meet a curved frame — even the buttons on the sides follow this slight angle. The result is a device that is very comfortable to hold and pick up off a table. Both front and back are Gorilla Glass 4 but there’s no avoiding the slippery feel. On the lower edge of the aluminium frame, you’ll see the USB type C port, flanked by two machine drilled speaker grilles (actually, there’s only one speaker, the other one hides a microphone and is there purely for symmetry). On top is the 3.5mm headphone jack and an IR emitter (universal remote control). It’s also very light; just 129 grams. Overall, this is every bit the premium flagship, despite costing about half as much as the others.

FLAGSHIP LEVEL PERFORMANCE

This is the first device in India with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 and it will probably remain the most affordable one with this SoC for quite a while. Benchmarks put it near the top of the Android phones and this flagship SoC gets support for all the LTE bands and fast WiFi. Paired with fast DDR4 RAM and UFS 2.0 storage, this is a device that will not hesitate with any kind of application or use.

CAMERA STILLS & VIDEO

The stock camera app is fully loaded. You get time lapse, slow motion, 4K recording, tilt shift, beautify and a full manual mode with exposure time that goes up to 32 seconds. The best parts about the camera are a 4-axis OIS that will amaze you, fast start up, zero shutter lag, fast focusing and ultra-fast shot-to-shot times. Overall quality still has a bit of catching up to do when compared to the likes of the iPhone 6S Plus and Galaxy S7 but results are close. Keep in mind that we’re comparing devices that cost more than twice as much. The OIS will amaze you while recording video in particular — it compensates for all sorts of movements.

FINGERPRINT SCANNER & BUTTONS

This is Xiaomi’s first device with a front fingerprint scanner and they’ve done a great job — it’s the fastest we’ve seen yet. To unlock it, you need to click the home button. If the screen is on, just place an enrolled finger to unlock. The home button is flanked by two capacitive buttons without any markings — the software lets you assign back and recent functions to whatever side you’re comfortable with. And since the home button is capacitive, you can also enable a light tap to go back home instead of a click.

A FEW THOUGHTFUL EXTRAS

The Mi 5 is among a handful of devices globally that currently support Qualcomm’s Quick Charge 3.0 standard. It can go from 0 to 80% charge in about 30 minutes. The unfortunate bit is that the company is only able to include a Quick Charge 2.0 charger in the box owing to Indian regulations (the mandatory BIS certification). This means it’ll be a bit slower. The good news is that you can easily buy a 3.0 charger if the additional charging speed is needed. And you can also choose to get the 20,000mAh Mi Power Bank, which supports 3.0 charging. The IR remote app is useful and has multiple devices listed (including TVs, AV equipment, multimedia players, cameras, ACs and Indian DTH providers). The software also includes automatic call recording, one handed mode, screen off gestures, audio effects, Mi Mover (to move data over from an older device), child mode, do not disturb, screen colour/contrast adjustment and a reading mode (with reduced glare and blue light). On the hardware side, there’s a notification light, full function NFC and a ‘tapping’ vibration motor that feels like light taps instead of just vibration. The fact that the device has USB type C will divide opinion. You can either carry the cable around or use a microUSB to type C adapter.

OUR VERDICT

We’ve reviewed a lot of smartphones over the years and the Mi 5 still manages to being something new and desirable to the table. And in an industry where it’s hard enough to go one up on your competition, Xiaomi has managed a two-up. This new device redefines what a flagship should perform like and how much it should cost. The flash sales continue for now and they’ve only launched the white 3GB/32GB version. But if you can get your hands on one, you’ll have a device that dares to play in the same league as the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6S while costing half as much.

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